Wendip Week 2017 day 2: Time travel
by nautiscarader
Summary: The greatest stories of the past can be found in simplest of places... second, simple older!Wendip story for Wendip Week.


\- That takes me back in time...

Now that was a phrase that grabbed Tyrone Pines' attention. And it was spoken by his dad, so, while odd-sounding, it must have be true. But then, could it be true?

\- Dad? What do you mean?

Tyrone Pines walked hastily to the sofa his father was relaxing on with - no surprises there - a large book in his hands. Without waiting for his answer, Tyrone climbed onto the sofa and crawled into his dad's arms, eager to see the book he was holding. It was a nice, large book with lots of pictures inside, and a hard, brown cover.

\- Hey, there, champ. What did you ask about?  
\- What does "take back in time" mean? Can you go back in time?

Tyrone's wide eyes shrunk when his dad chuckled, giving his hair a bit of a ruffle. This usually meant Tyrone was wrong, simply because he didn't know enough adult words, or that he mistook one for another.

\- No, it's just a saying. It means that you start remembering things from your past, like these, see?

An album! Of course, mom and dad often browsed through them, usually the ones with his pictures inside it. This one seemed similar at first - it looked like it contained lots of pictures of him, except Tyrone could not remember any of them being taken. Even stranger, the boy in pictures looked older than he was. Could his father have pictures of him from the future?

And then it struck him - the hair! It wasn't red, like his mom's, but chestnut, very much like his...

\- Dad, is that you?  
\- Of course. And can you recognise this sweater-wearing lady?

He pointed to the girl eagerly staring into the lenses of the camera, so much so she made half of the picture blurry.

\- Auntie Mabel! She's everywhere!  
\- Yeah, no one could ever stop her then, and no one can stop her now.

Tyrone flipped a couple of pages, finding more glitter-covered pictures of his aunt, and a few, less decorative ones, of his dad.

\- Where's mom?  
\- These are from before we even heard about Gravity Falls, I think. Look, I don't even have my cap anywhere. - he shuffled through the sturdy pages - I only met your mom when we arrived here for a summer. Dunno if she brought any of her pics though...

Dad passed the album, and reached to the bookcase next to the sofa, giving Tyrone chance to see more pics of Dad's younger self. The two were remarkably similar, aside the hair colour, so much so that Tyrone had to actively remind that he hasn't looking at himself. Some of the pics showed his dad amongst books, or toys, some in garden, playing with Auntie Mabel in his grandaprent's old house.

\- Uh, I think mom has her album at her dad's house. After all, she has three brothers. - his dad stated after checking the bookcase - You wanna see more pictures of me and mom?

Tyrone eagerly nodded and moved aside, when Dad brought not one, but three thick albums with him.

\- Yeah, we got a bit photo-crazy at some point. Well, Mabel did, she wanted to take all sorts of pictures once me and your mom started dating.

The first album looked very similar to the one Tyrone has seen already, aside from the brown, cap that at some point made its way to his dad's head. And then, out of the blue, the theme of the photography has changed. There were less and less of the twins in the pictures, and more and more images of forests and familiar-looking mountains. After a couple of pages more, images of a few familiar people appeared, bringing a smile back to Tyrone's face.

\- That's grandpa Stan! And Soos!  
\- That was our first visit here. - his dad nodded - We didn't know grunkle Stan that well back then, so he's gonna be mostly grumpy here.

And indeed, some of the pics showed grandpa Stan in, well, less than appealing poses, or with lots of grimaces on his already wrinkled face. The young version of Soos, on the other hand looked... pretty much like the same big, cuddly fellow Tyrone knew already. But then the subject of the pictures changed again, finally giving Tyrone what he wanted to see.

\- That's mom!  
\- Yep, that's her. - his dad sighed, staring at a profile photograph of his mom, relaxing on a bench during a warm, sunny day - You can imagine why I fell for her, can you?  
\- Her hair is pretty... - Tyrone whispered, flipping pages again.  
\- Yeah, you are right. And look, here we are with Mabel.

On the next photograph, his mom was leaning casually on the wooden wall of Mystery Shack, with his dad and Auntie on both her sides. Only now, with all of them in one picture, Tyrone noticed a rather large detail he wasn't aware of so far.

\- Dad, why is mom so much taller?  
\- Well, she's older than me. I was twelve, or thirteen, and she was fifteen already. You're gonna shoot up when you're that age too. - his dad paused - Your grandma was a bit baffled by the age gap, though.  
\- Why? - Tyrone asked - Do you have to be the same age to marry?  
\- No, it's just a bit unusual when a boy is younger than a girl. I guess. - he paused again. - Come to think, her arguments never really made sense to us. We were dating, and we didn't care. Glad she understood that.

His dad must have been in love with mom for a very long time, Tyrone realised. Lots of pictures showed her with his dad and Auntie, some with grandpa Stan and Soos, and some with lots of other, young people he has never seen before.

\- That's Lee, and Thompson, Wendy's friends from high school. - his dad started counting. - That's Nate, another one, that's Robbie, he was your mom's first boyfriend. That's Tambry, these two got married in the end...  
\- Boyfriend?  
\- Yeah. When you start dating, you call your sweetheart a boyfriend of a girlfriend.  
\- I know, dad. - Tyrone stressed - But... Mom dated other people?  
\- Sure she did.

Tyrone hasn't felt that puzzled in a long time. He knew that you have to meet your future wife at some point, but he was sure the road from there was pretty straightforward, even though he wasn't sure what that "road" was. The prospect of his mom dating, and possibly *kissing* other men than dad, on the other hand, was absolutely unthinkable! Not that kissing in general didn't make him a bit squeamish to begin with, despite his parents' assertions that "he will change your mind at some point".

\- So she wasn't your girlfriend then?  
\- No, of course not. Though that didn't stop me from being in love with her. - he winked

His dad took the album from his hands, and replaced it with a second one.

\- I think that's our... third and fourth visit here... Oh, and even fifth. - he stated, looking at the dates on the first page. - I think we started dating somewhere then.

The pictures inside this album looked wildly different to the previous ones: his father was much taller and his chin was covered with patches of hair he called "a goatee"; Auntie Mabel had different hair style in practically every shot, often mimicking her friends, Grenda and Candy that Tyron vaguely remembered from one of the slightly odd and boring get-togethers. His mom looked oddly similar, if not for the fact that in many pictures she was making googly eyes to his father in the same way he was making to her.

\- Yeah, there we are. I think it was our second date. Don't have pictures from the first one, the tiger smashed the camera.  
\- A tiger?  
\- Yeah, a sabre-toothed one. We still don't know where it came from, but boy we were sad that he ripped it to shreds.  
\- Why? Why would he do that?  
\- I think it's because we didn't ask him if we can take pictures of him. Tigers don't like paparazzi. Oh, it mean people, who make photos whether you like it or not. - he quickly added. - He's not talking to us anymore. Shame, he was a funny guy.

Another couple of pages went by with more pictures of his dad and mom in odd dating spots, as well as the increasing number of kissing scenes, which only made Tyrone avert his eyes in embarrassment. Noticing that, his dad took another album, and browsed through it to show him something less smoochy.

\- There, look, our Halloween costumes. - he started - You know, at some point I wasn't that keen on dressing up in those, but your auntie told me there's nothing wrong with it.  
\- Of course there isn't. - Tyrone was quick to respond - Why did you want to stop doing it?  
\- Well, I thought that it was silly, since I was too old... I wanted to impress your mom, you see. - he spoke softly - Actually, most of these pictures could be labeled that. And I was a bit of a dummy to think that she will like me more if I'm gonna pretend to be someone else. That could be a title of many of these as well...

The pictures showed his dad in costumes, usually matching the ones his sister was wearing, with mom and Soos often appearing next to them.

\- See? We used to go as pirates, king and a queen, cowboys... That's more what you wanted, right? And look, here we are in different countries!

Another set of pictures showed weird buildings, people in different clothes (including his mom and dad!), and unusual, sometimes otherworldly-looking landscapes. As if by magic, dozens of untold adventures unfolded in front of Tyrone's eyes, making his head spin. He was travelling through time, faster than he ever though he would, watching his parents and family transform and change, while still retaining the same eyes and smiles he was so used to. And at the same time, all he wanted was to hear more about the amazing life his dad and mom had before he was born.

\- So, what you guys are up to?

A sudden, clam and warm voice shifted Tyrone's attention from the avalanche of questions he had, making him raise his hands into the air nearly instantaneously, waiting for his mom to pick him up.

\- Mom! Look what we found!  
\- Yeah, heard you all the way from the garden. - his mom said, taking him into her arms. - Your dad is a sentimental one, and you seem to be like him.  
\- Hey, I just like documenting stuff. - he replied - Besides, how could I miss that opportunity?

He spread the pages of the album again, showing a photo of his mom sticking her tongue to the camera, and rolling her eyes in a comedic fashion.

\- See? True beauty only Oregon can provide.  
\- Shush, or I will show him your pictures. - Tyrone's mom warned her husband - The one from your mom.  
\- You wouldn't - dad yelped, his eyes widening in horror  
\- Works every time. Now, Tyrone, It's already 7, you should go to bed.  
\- Mom, can't we stay a bit late? - Tyrone pleaded - We were having fun with the photographs!  
\- We can all browse them tomorrow. - she said, giving him a kiss on forehead. - Mom is gonna sit with you tomorrow, and we will see how many times your dad was making stuff up, okay?

Trying to contain giggling, Tyrone nodded and ran to the bathroom, wondering what great stories will his mom tell him the next day. He already learned way more about his parents he expected, so the prospect of getting more tidbits about their lives already made him hyped up. With his head buzzing with ideas, the evening bath passed in a blink of an eye, and Tyrone quickly found himself tucked in his bed, ready to dream about the adventures his parents are going to tell him about tomorrow.

* * *

Having helped Tyrone with the evening routine, Wendy entered the living room, now filled with even more orange light from the bulbs, creating a familiar, cozy atmosphere. Just like her son before, she jumped into Dipper's arms, who was still browsing the albums that made this evening so much longer.

\- So, are we ever going to tell him? - Dipper asked, giving his wife a quick peck, and gently stroking her hair  
\- He's as nosy as you or me, so I have a feeling he's going to find it on his own. - Wendy replied dreamily, snuggling into Dipper's shoulder  
\- It will be a bit difficult though, you know. A ruler is not as cool as all the other time machines he saw in comics and movies.  
\- Don't you wish we kept it, though? - Wendy asked - We could be going to all sorts of times and places...  
\- Nah, I think we're fine the way we are, frankly. - Dipper confided - And what do you think?  
\- I think you're just jealous that the crew chose me to be their pirate captain and you were just a deck hand. - Wendy replied sharply, flipping the album back to the picture of them in their pirate "costumes".


End file.
